Q – How do I know if I am setup for STP2 or not?
To check if you have transitioned to STP2 or not, go to menu item ‘Payroll Maintenance’, then the Payroll Settings tab, scroll about halfway down. If the STP Version shows as Phase 2, then you are already set up and good to go.
Q – I closed off Year End and I still have data to enter – what do I do now?
You will need to make corrections to the employee's YTD figures.
After you have corrected the YTD figures, you will need to send an Update Event, Instructions on how to send an Update Event are available in the year end processing document.
Q – I won’t get my FBT figures until after I have closed off the Financial Year OR I have already closed off the Financial Year and now need to enter in FBT figures – what do I do?
To correct/add the FBT values for an employee please follow the instructions available in Topic 1.3 of the downloadable document available here.
After you have corrected/added the FBT values, you will need to send an Update Event, Instructions on how to send an Update Event are available in Topic 1.8 of the downloadable document available here.
Q – I have to enter in FBT figures for a Terminated employee – what do I do?
You will need to upload the FBT information for the employee.
Instructions on how to Upload FBT information is covered in Topic 1.3 of the downloadable document available here.
After you have corrected the YTD figures, you will need to send an Update Event, Instructions on how to send an Update Event are available in Topic 1.8 of the Year End Release Notes.
Q – Do I need a Special Run?
Special Runs are not mandatory, but we do highly recommend you set one up just in case, please note that if you do not set up a special run, you will be rolled into the next financial year, and there will be no further opportunity to process transactions as part of the current financial year. It is much easier to add in the Special Run, just in case, and then roll it over as a blank payroll if required.
Q – I set up a Special Run and I no longer need it – what do I do now?
The Special Run is the Month End Run for June, and this process needs to be rolled over so the Year End processes can occur.
You will need to do a Pay Calc and Pay Authorisation on the Special Run and run it as blank.
Q – My employee is asking for a payment summary – how do I give them on?
Since the introduction of STP reporting, the system no longer produces Payment Summaries, information is reported direct to the ATO and available to employees through their My Gov Accounts. If the employee does not have a My Gov Account, they will need to contact the ATO.
If the client would like a printout from the system, using the menu Payroll > Employee YTD Enquiry you could provide the employee with a screen shot of the YTD information. Employees using ESS can also view this information using the menu My YTD Enquiry.
Q – I have done my final run of the year; how do I send the Final Event to the ATO?
You do not need to. The software automatically sends the Final Event to the ATO when you authorise the last pay process of the Financial Year. It will show on the STP Reconciliation Report with a TRUE flag under ‘Final Event’. As shown in Topic 1.11 of the downloadable document available here. Always double check that that your last pay process of the Financial Year is a Month End Run!
Q – I set up my Pay Element incorrectly for STP Reporting – what do I do now?
You will need to go to the specific Pay Element, change the Income Statement reporting. This will trigger the need for an Update Event. From there go to the menu item ‘Update Event’ and you will be able to send an Update Event for the employees affected. Refer to Topic 1.8 of the Year End Processing Notes for more details.
Q – How do I update the super for employees to be in line with the new SG rates?
You are not required to do anything; the software is updated to manage any ATO required increases. If you do however pay more than the ATO SG rate and need to increase the super, you will have to do this via an employee upload.
Q – How do I update the new tax rates, redundancy thresholds etc?
You are not required to do anything; the software is updated to manage any required increases.
Q – I need to set up a Special Run – what dates should I use?
To meet the ATO requirements for the current financial year, your Process Date, EFT Release Date and Pay Date will need to be June 30 or earlier to be considered as the current financial year.
Q – I am in the first pay run of the new FY and the termination I just entered has 0 tax – is that correct?
Terminations use Marginal Rates (YTD's) to calculate tax. When there is no previous pay in the financial year there is no averages to calculate on.
The ATO does not provide a calculation for the first pay run of the financial year. That is the tax calculated based on no YTD's.
You can choose to override the zero Tax value, to determine the tax value, you will need to calculate what the average tax would be and then enter the value in the ‘Override PAYG Tax’ field.
Alternatively, you can enter in a value in the ‘Normal Gross Earnings’ field and the software will use this to calculate the marginal tax rates.
Q – I am in the first pay run of the new FY and trying to do a Pay Adjustment for a Tax Average Pay Element (Bonus / Pack Pay etc) and it is not appearing in the list.
Back Pay and Tax Average Bonuses require YTD’s to be able to calculate a tax figure. As this is the first pay run of the year there is no YTD’s. To be able to process the Pay Adjustment you will need to enter a figure in the ‘Average Gross’ field.
Q – I am in the first pay run of the new Financial Year and trying to do a Pay Adjustment and reference a past pay process.
You are only able to reference a pay process that relates to the financial year that you are in. You cannot select a past Financial Year pay process in the Pay Adjustment. Depending on the value it could potentially be a Lump Sum E. If it does not meet the criteria for a Lump Sum E you will need to manually calculate the tax for that period.
Q – One of my employees has a ‘not tax ready’ entry in MyGov.
If the employee has a correct Tax Ready entry, then you do not need to do anything with the Not Tax Ready entry. This will be ignored by the ATO.